Replica tall ship sank Monday amid Hurricane Sandy

U.S. Coast Guard suspends search for HMS Bounty captain

'Suspending a search and rescue case is one of the hardest decisions to make'

After nearly four full days of searching, U.S. Coast Guard officials have decided to suspend their search for the missing captain of HMS Bounty.

Robin Walbridge, 63, has been missing since Monday morning, when the crew of HMS Bounty decided to abandon ship in high seas brought on by Hurricane Sandy off the coast of North Carolina. Walbridge didn't make it to a life-raft with the rest of his crew.

"Our thoughts and prayers are with the Walbridge and Christian families," said Captain Doug Cameron, the chief of incident response for the Coast Guard 5th District. "Suspending a search and rescue case is one of the hardest decisions to make."

As the crew members scrambled to get to covered life-rafts, three of them — including Walbridge and deckhand Claudene Christian, 42 — were washed overboard. Walbridge has not been seen since. Christian's body was recovered from the seas on Monday.

According to the surviving crew members of HMS Bounty, Walbridge was wearing a survival suit, a large rubber suit designed to keep the wearer dry and warm even in frigid water.

The 16 crew members of the vessel decided to abandon ship after getting caught in 5.5-metre seas about 320 kilometres southeast of Hatteras, N.C.

The Bounty sank several hours after the evacuation.

The third person who was washed overboard made it to a life-raft and was among the 14 people hoisted onto helicopters and taken to shore.

Thousands of square kilometres searched

U.S. Coast Guard officials said conditions on the ocean were getting better with each passing day. Thursday brought 26 C water temperatures and 16.6 C air temperatures, along with 27 knot winds and 1.2 metre waves.

Searchers covered thousands of square kilometres of ocean since the rescue effort began on Monday.

http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/nova-scotia/story/2012/11/02/ns-hms-bounty-investigation.html

CBC News Posted: Nov 2, 2012 10:58 AM AT

HMS Bounty sinking probe ordered by U.S. Coast Guard

Replica tall ship sank Monday amid Hurricane Sandy

The U.S. Coast Guard has ordered a formal investigation into the sinking of the Nova Scotia-built replica tall ship HMS Bounty, which left one crew member dead and another missing.

The sinking Monday morning came several hours after the crew decided to abandon ship in high seas brought on by Hurricane Sandy off the coast of North Carolina.

As the 16 crew members scrambled to get to covered life-rafts, Capt. Robin Walbridge, 63, and deckhand Claudene Christian, 42, were washed overboard. Christian's body was recovered on Monday and the search for Walbridge was called off Thursday night.

Lt. Mike Patterson, external affairs officer for the Coast Guard 5th District Marine Inspections and Investigations Branch, said the formal review is common practice after there is a loss of life related to a marine incident.

"The purpose of this investigation, a district formal investigation, is to thoroughly review the cause of the accident, to make a full determination of the cause and any contributing factors — whether negligence, equipment failure, misconduct or failure of a propulsion system or equipment — if any of those things contributed to a casualty, the purpose of this investigation would be to identify that," said Patterson.

Examining physical evidence in the investigation will be difficult, Patterson said. No one has seen HMS Bounty since Tuesday after the ship sank.

If the vessel did sink to the bottom, Patterson said, it might not be possible to raise it, as the waters in that area of the Atlantic are about four kilometres deep.

Patterson said the investigation will take several months to complete, and if there is a finding of negligence the file would be turned over to the U.S. Department of Justice for possible criminal charges.

The investigation will attempt to determine:

• The cause of the accident.
• Whether there is evidence that any failure of material or equipment was involved or contributed to the casualty.
• Whether there is evidence that any act of misconduct, inattention to duty, negligence or wilful violation of the law on the part of any licensed or certificated person contributed to the casualty.
• Whether there is evidence that any coast guard or other government agency personnel caused or contributed to the casualty.
• Whether the accident should be further investigated by a Marine Board of Investigation.

Cmdr. Kevin M. Carroll, chief of the Coast Guard 5th District Marine Inspections and Investigations Branch, will head the investigation, which is expected to take several months.

Date: 2016-01-14; view: 716